ATLANTA — Former NFL running back and U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker informed Texas tax officials that he not living in the state and will no longer claim a tax exemption on his multi-million dollar home outside of Dallas.
Walker requested the homestead exemption for his Westlake, Texas, home be removed for the 2021 and 2022 tax years.
It appears Walker may be living in Georgia. The Republican listed his mailing address as an Atlanta home owned by wife, Julie Blanchard, on a document he submitted to Tarrant County, Texas officials.
Attempts to contact Walker's representatives before publication were unsuccessful. This story will be updated if 11Alive receives a response.
"I am no longer a resident of Tarrant County or the State of Texas and therefore do not qualify for the homestead exemption," Walker wrote in an application to have the break removed. "This property is not my primary residence."
Jeff Law, the executive director and chief appraiser of the Tarrant Appraisal District, told 11Alive that his office stopped the exemption in December — shortly after Sen. Raphael Warnock defeated Walker in a U.S. Senate runoff. Walker completed the paperwork in late November.
The Tarrant Appraisal District oversees the county's property tax appraisal and exemption administration.
"Tarrant Appraisal District sent Mr. Walker an application to reapply for the homestead exemption along with a letter and a Request for Exemption Removal form in an effort to determine if he was no longer qualified for the homestead exemption," Law said in a statement.
It's unclear if Walker would be forced to repay the tax breaks he received. Records show that the breaks for 2021 and 2022 were less than $3,000.
Law told 11Alive that the appraisal district will notify the Tarrant County Tax Office that the homestead exemption has been removed. The tax office would handle any back billing. The tax office did not return calls from 11Alive.
Questions about Walker's residency dogged him during his Senate campaign.
11Alive first reported on Walker's homestead exemption in 2021. In November 2022, 11Alive reported that the Republican could be running afoul of tax and residency rules in Georgia and Texas.
Law previously told 11Alive that the government agency would ask Walker if the Westlake home is still his primary residence. The agency could also check Walker's license to see if it matches the home's address.
It sent the letters shortly after 11Alive and other media outlets reported on the tax break.
Walker had claimed the homestead exemption since 2012. Under Texas homestead exemption requirements, the house must be used by the homeowner as their principal residence on Jan. 1 of the tax year.
Homeowners can keep the exemption if they temporarily move away. They must meet these three conditions:
- They don't establish a principal residence elsewhere
- They intend to return to the home
- They are away less than two years
Walker registered to vote in Fulton County in August 2021 using his wife's address. Blanchard received thousands of dollars in rental income from the Atlanta home she owns, according to 2021 Senate financial disclosure forms and reporting from The Daily Beast.
State election officials investigated allegations that his wife illegally voted in Georgia during the 2020 presidential election while the couple lived in Texas.
At the time, Walker was a registered Texas voter. Data from the Texas Secretary of State shows Walker registered to vote there on Oct.8, 2020.
Investigators with the Georgia Secretary of State found in 2021 that his wife did not violate state law.
Fulton County records show that his wife does not claim a homestead exemption on the property as of March 2022.